Any battery experts on here? Trying to make sense of how long MBA will last.

macrumors newbie

I've read lots of conflicting information about this subject. Most sources I am seeing via Google search say that after 1000 charge cycles a lithoum-ion battery, like the one used in the macbook air, will no longer hold a good charge and will basically be worthless. Yet, Apple says that after 1000 charge cycles the battery will only lose 20% capacity here http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html.

Quote

The built-in battery of your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is designed to deliver up to 1000 full charge and discharge cycles before it reaches 80 percent of its original capacity.

Click to expand...

Is this really true?

Since I purchased a Haswell MBA the other day does that mean after 1000 charge cycles that I am really going to still have roughly 9.6 hours of battery life? (12 hours X 80%)

Also, what happens after 2000 charge cycles? Do I still only lose another 20% to 7.2 hours of batter life give or take? (12 hours X 60%)

Any expert opinions on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

macrumors newbie

macrumors 6502a

I swear, it really seems like sometimes people stretch their budgets just to be a macbook owner. It is shocking to me the amount of people that are worried about battery life, worried about their SSD life.

These are the 2 things that the 2013 Air DOMINATE by million miles in the market. The Air has the best battery and the best SSD.

Stop being worried, and make full use

In 3-5 years, pay $100 for new battery, and about $200 for new faster 1TB SSD. (based on 5 years ago, upgrade to SSD 64GB from HDD cost $1000)

macrumors Westmere

Most sources I am seeing via Google search say that after 1000 charge cycles a lithoum-ion battery, like the one used in the macbook air, will no longer hold a good charge and will basically be worthless.

Click to expand...

That is clearly false. Even after 1000 cycles, most batteries will hold sufficient charge to be quite useful. Even if the battery health drops below 80%, the battery is still fully functional and useful for most users.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about Apple notebook batteries on the web. The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

macrumors 68000

My 11" MBA is almost 3 years old, and the battery health is 89%. I use it daily (average usage). I think you'll be fine for several years. One thing I've noticed with Apple batteries is that they don't crap out after a year or 2, like my old HP laptops did.

macrumors 65816

sadly you're only going to get 8 months total battery time the next year

truth be told, i don't really believe the claims. i fully expect the battery to start showing some age in 2-3 years. we'll see. either way i wouldn't worry too much about it. either way it certainly won't be "Worthless" by any means.

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